The Alpha's Rejected Luna and Her Secret Twins

EPISODE 1 The moon was high and red over Mooncrest Pack. Blood moon. A bad omen. I should have known. Twenty wolves stood in a circle around the stone altar. Torches lit their faces. My friends. My family. My enemies now. And in the center, standing on the raised platform like a king, was Alpha Kade Blackwood. He was 21. I was 18. Three years of secret kisses, promises whispered under the same moon. Three years of him telling me I was his. That the Moon Goddess made us. My hands shook at my sides. My dress was white. Stupid. I thought tonight was my claiming ceremony. “Step forward, Ava Carter,” Kade’s voice cut through the silence. Cold. Distant. Like I didn’t know him. I stepped forward. My bare feet touched the cold stone. The bond in my chest tugged, weak but still there. My wolf, Luna, whined inside me. _Mate_, she cried. _Our mate._ Kade didn’t look at me. Not really. His jaw was clenched. His eyes were on the crowd, not me. “Elder, read the decree,” he said. The old elder unrolled the parchment. “By the will of the Moon Goddess, the fated mate of Alpha Kade Blackwood is...” My heart stopped. “...Selena Voss.” The world tilted. Selena. The pack’s princess. The daughter of the Beta. The girl who hated me. No. That wasn’t right. The bond was with me. I could feel it. Kade finally looked at me. And there was nothing in his eyes. No love. No regret. Just emptiness. “Step back, Ava,” he said quietly. Only I could hear the crack in it. I didn’t. “Kade, please. You know it’s me. I can feel you. Luna can feel you.” He flinched. Then his face hardened. “The Moon Goddess has spoken,” he said louder, for everyone to hear. “Ava Carter is not my mate.” Whispers started. He took one step down from the platform. Stood right in front of me. Close enough that I could smell him. Cedar and storm. My mate. His voice dropped to a whisper only for me. “I’m sorry.” Then he turned to the entire pack and roared. “I, Alpha Kade Blackwood, reject you, Ava Carter, as my mate and future Luna.” The words hit me like a physical blow. Pain exploded in my chest. Like someone ripped my heart out with bare hands. I screamed. I couldn’t help it. I dropped to my knees on the stone, clutching my chest. The bond snapped. It felt like dying. Luna howled inside me, broken and bleeding. _He lied. He lied. He lied._ Someone pulled my hair back. Laughter. “Did you really think an Alpha would pick a nobody orphan?” Selena’s voice, sweet and poisonous. I couldn’t breathe. Tears streamed down my face but I was too far gone to care about dignity. “Get her out of here,” Kade said. His voice was flat again. Two warriors grabbed my arms and dragged me away from the altar. Away from him. I didn’t fight. What was the point? That night I ran. I ran until my feet bled and my wolf went silent from grief. I crossed pack borders illegally. Became a rogue. Three weeks later, I threw up in a gas station bathroom in the city. Pregnant. Twins. The healer confirmed it. “Strong heartbeats,” she said. “You’re lucky.” Lucky. Right. I named them Leo and Lila. I raised them alone. I built a company from nothing. I became CEO Ava Carter. No pack. No mate. No weakness. For five years I told myself I was over him. Until tonight. The invitation came on gold paper. “Mooncrest Pack Annual Gala. Hosted by Alpha Kade Blackwood.” My twins are 5 now. They have his eyes. His hair. His stubborn chin. And now I have to go back. Back to the man who broke me. Back to the pack that watched me shatter. Back with a secret that could destroy him. Because Kade doesn’t know. He doesn’t know he has children. And I’m about to walk right into his ballroom.